The invention is related to a bag for packaging and displaying the articles packaged therein. Particularly, the invention is related to a bag which will attractively display the contained articles, fresh meat and poultry, in a manner which is pleasing to a consumer.
Transparent plastic bags are often used in the packaging of fresh meats and poultry. This packaging technique is often used because meat preparation is done at a location away from the ultimate retail outlet. Thus, the bag performs at least two functions. First, the bag provides an impervious container which prevents contamination of the contained product. Second, the bag provides a transparent container which allows the consumer to inspect the contained product.
During the processing of the meat or poultry, it is impossible to remove all unwanted fluids such as blood from the prepared meat or poultry. The unwanted fluid seeps from the food product and is contained within the bag. The seepage occurs when the food product is placed in the bag, during transportation to the retailer and/or during display of the packaged food product by the retailer. The inclusion of the unwanted fluid within the package detracts from the appearance of the food product. The presence of the unwanted fluid within the package adversely affects the consumer.
In the past absorbent pads were hand loaded into the bags. The hand loading of the pads posed problems to packagers because of the time and expense associated with this hand loading operation. For example, 20 workers hand loading pads into bags and then filling the bags with food produced 96 bags per minute. The present invention permits bags to be machine loaded at the same rate of 96 bags per minute but with only 2 workers.